A town in search of clarity

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fosters.com

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Posted Nov. 14, 2012 at 3:15 AM

Posted Nov. 14, 2012 at 3:15 AM

As news comes that the Newmarket Teachers Association and School Board have reached a deal to change health insurance providers that could save the district, teachers and taxpayers money, the future for the community looks otherwise murky. This is not to say, however, that town and school leaders are not working hard to brighten the horizon.

Were the $350,000 to be saved by the school district find its way to taxpayers’ wallets, it would mean a cut in tax bills of approximately 47 cents per thousand dollars of assessed value. It is the same amount approved by a recent vote of the Newmarket Town Council as reserves were tapped in order to lessen tax bills.

All this comes in the wake of last year’s tax debacle which saw a series of clerical errors locally and at the N.H. Department of Revenue Administration cause the tax rate to jump by more than $3, then partially rescinded, only to later find out other errors were in the pipeline.

Rube Goldberg could not have designed a greater comedy of errors.

Meanwhile, Newmarket is facing a very tough choice that will have a far greater impact on taxpayers, teachers and students than all this tax shenanigans. Facing a 2015 deadline from the state Fire Marshal’s Office to do something about deplorable conditions at the aging Newmarket Junior/Senior High School, local officials have been juggling more than their fair share of options.

Build a new school to the tune of more than $40 million on land recently purchased across the street from the current building? Rehabilitate the current building for a few millions dollars less? Or give up the town’s grasp on a local junior/senior high school and tuition the students to Oyster River, which now seems willing and perhaps eager to fill rapidly emptying space?

Complicating Newmarket’s plight is what essentially amounts to a state freeze on building aid that could force the entire cost of a new or rehabilitated school on to the backs of taxpayers. Added to the mix are contract negotiations with the Newmarket Teachers Association.

On the town side there is also been some rough sledding. After years of financial mismanagement under failed successive town managers, the Town Council seems to be getting a grasp on its side of the tax picture.

News reports indicate the new town manager, Steve Fournier, is leading the council in making some much-needed changes, even as basic as to knowing if the books balance from month to month. Fournier’s hiring may have signaled a change in politics on the town side. Before his arrival, council meetings were, to say the least, often tense and divided. Now, while opinions still vary, the council appears to be heading down the same road.

An example was seen during the discussion of using $350,000 from town reserves to temper the tax rate. On one end was the suggestion of $300,000, on the other the urging of $400,000, and in the end a compromise.

The same sense seems to be reflected within the school district. After early tempers over the land purchase and a succession of failed school proposals, there appears to be a sense of compromise and accommodation. It can be seen in the teachers coming to terms with the district’s financial straits and in the School Board’s willingness to pursue options beyond just a new school.

It would be a fool’s errand to predict where all this is headed, except to say that when Newmarket gets to where it is going it stands a much better chance of getting there as a community united rather than the community divided it has been for the last decade or so.